5 JULY 2020

Daily Current Affairs

 5 July 2020 

NATIONAL NEWS

 

Odisha to plant 13 Crore Saplings Over 1.30 Lakh Hectares under ‘Sabuja Odisha’ initiative

1.  
The Odisha government plans to plant 13.11 crore saplings over a total area of 1,30,624 hectares under a new initiative called ‘Sabuja Odisha.’ This will be done in a bid to increase green cover in the state.

2.   For successful implementation of the programme, district-level committees will be formed under the chairmanship of the collector. Furthermore, the Divisional Forest Officer headquarters would work as Plantation Officer in the district.

 

SERB launches ‘Accelerate Vigyan’ scheme to strengthen scientific research mechanism

1.  
The Science and Engineering Research Board has launched a new scheme called ‘Accelerate Vigyan’ to provide a single platform for research internships, capacity building programs and workshops across the country.

2.   The primary objective of this inter-ministerial scheme is to encourage high-end scientific research and prepare scientific manpower, which can lead towards research careers and knowledge-based economy.

3.   Accelerate Vigyan will initiate and strengthen mechanisms for identifying research potential, mentoring, training and hands-on.

 

Committee for reform in criminal law to start online consultation soon

1.  
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has constituted a national level committee for reform in criminal law.

2.   The committee, which has several leading legal academicians on board, would be gathering opinions online, consulting with experts and collating material for their report to the government.

3.   The consultation exercise would start on July 4 and go on for the next three months

4.   The committee includes Ranbir Singh, chairperson, Vice-Chancellor, National Law University (NLU), Delhi; G.S. Bajpai, member and convenor, Registrar, NLU Delhi; Balraj Chauhan, member, Vice-Chancellor, Dharmashastra NLU Jabalpur; Mahesh Jethmalani, member, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India; and G.P. Thareja, member, former District and Sessions Judge, Delhi.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

 

India, Japan Hold Naval Exercise to ‘Promote Understanding’ Amid Border Row with China

1.  
Indian and Japanese warships conducted exercises in the Indian Ocean, announced the navies of both the countries. The Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force described the manoeuvres as designed to “promote mutual understanding” and consisted of four warships, two from each country.

2.   This is the 15th exercise undertaken by the navies of these two nations in the last three years.

3.   The Indian navy training vessels INS Rana and INS Kulush were joined by the Japanese navy’s JS Kashima and JS Shimayuki.

BANKING & FINANCE

 

IRDAI forms panel to mull surety bonds, to be headed by G Srinivasan

1.  
Insurance regulator IRDAI has constituted a working group to study the suitability of insurers offering surety bonds for contractors.

2.   Headed by G. Srinivasan, director, National Insurance Academy, the group comprises senior executives of public and private insurers as well as officials of IRDAI. It has three months to submit the report.

3.   The move follows Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways requesting the regulator to examine the possibility of general insurers offering such bonds in view of COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent economic impact on liquidity and cash flow issues in the banking sector.

4.   Such bonds guarantee satisfactory completion of a project by a contractor and provide performance security to various government agencies.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

 

India-Bangladesh form 50:50 Joint Venture Company for LPG business in Bangladesh

1.  
India and Bangladesh signed an agreement for the formation of a 50:50 Joint Venture Company (JVC) for LPG business in Bangladesh.

2.   The new Joint venture company set up takes further the ‘neighbourhood first’ policy of the government of India.

3.   The new Joint venture is another step in the same direction. The Joint Venture Company will help reduce the cost of imprt of LPG and make it more affordable for the consumers in Bangladesh.

APPOINTMENTS

Karnam Sekar retires as Indian Overseas Bank MD & CEO

1.  
Karnam Sekar, the managing director and chief executive of public sector lender Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has retired on June 30, 2020.

2.   Karnam had joined the bank as an OSD (officer on special duty) and whole-time director on April 1, 2019 after merger of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank.

3.   Prior to working with IOB, Sekar was MD and CEO of Dena Bank since September 21, 2018.

V Suryanarayanan appointed new MD of Chola MS General Insurance after S. S. Gopalarathnam retires

1.  
Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company has announced the appointment of V Suryanarayanan as its new managing director.

2.   Suryanarayanan succeeds S S Gopalarathnam, who retired after serving the company for over 41 years.

3.   Cholamandalam MS General Insurance is a Joint Venture between diversified conglomerate Murugappa Group and Japan- based Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company Ltd.

·          

Two agricultural experts from India named by UN chief to scientific group for 2021 food summit

1.  
Two eminent agricultural experts hailing from India have been named members of an international scientific group, aimed to offer foremost scientific evidence for sustainable food systems, established by UN chief Antonio Guterres ahead of a global food summit next year.

2.   Prof. Rattan Lal of Ohio State University and Dr. Uma Lele of the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE) are among the Scientific Group Members named by Guterres

AWARDS

Pulitzer winner Siddhartha Mukherjee, Prof Raj Chetty among ‘2020 Great Immigrants’ honourees

 

1.  
Two renowned Indian-Americans who have contributed towards the efforts in mitigating the COVID-19 health crisis are among the 38 immigrants honoured by a prestigious American foundation ahead of US Independence Day commemoration this year.

2.   Pulitzer Prize-winning author and oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee, and Professor of Economics at Harvard University Raj Chetty have been named by the Carnegie Corporation of New York as ‘2020 Great Immigrants’ honourees

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

AIIMS, IIT-Delhi develop app to provide real-time information on plasma therapy donors for COVID-19 patients

1.  
Resident doctors of AIIMS with the help of IIT-Delhi students have developed a mobile application to track real-time Covid-19 patients in the hospital, who can become potential plasma donors 28 days after recovery along with those who have been discharged.

2.   The app named COPAL-19 has details of patients who have already been discharged from AIIMS, those currently undergoing treatment and their blood groups so that patients who require plasma therapy can get it in time without any hassle.

·          

Air Force develops Airborne Locust Control System on Mi-17 Helicopters

The Indian Air Force has successfully designed and developed an Airborne Locust Control System on Mi-17 helicopters for tackling the locusts attack.

The machine developed by the Air Force can help in spraying pesticides over 750 hectares of land in one mission.

The nozzles used for the purpose are a mix of commercially available as well as the ones developed by the Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO), Chandigarh

OBITUARIES

West Indies cricket legend Everton Weekes passes away

1.  
Legendary batsman Everton Weekes, the last of the famed West Indies ‘Three Ws’, died at the age of 95 and was hailed as “a founding father” of the sport in the Caribbean.

2.   In his career, Weekes played 48 test matches and made 4,455 runs at an average of 58.61 per innings.

3.   That included a world-record five consecutive centuries in 1948, scores of 141 against England in Jamaica, followed by scores of 128, 194, 162 and 101 in India. In his next innings, he made 90 when he was run out.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

“The Future of Higher Education” released virtually by M Venkaiah Naidu

1.  
The Vice President of India, Shri. M. Venkaiah Naidu virtually released a book titled “Future of Higher Education – Nine Mega Trends”, during an event hosted by ICT Academy.

2.   The book has been authored by CA V Pattabhi Ram, Author, Public Speaker, and Teacher.

3.   It is based on a survey of around 5000 educators across India, who were part of ICT Academy’s “SkyCampus” Digital Knowledge Series.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Allergy Week 2020 

1.  
World Allergy Week is a global campaign of the World Allergy Organisation (WAO), which aims to raise awareness of the impact of allergy in our communities.

2.   This year’s World Allergy Week run from 28th June to 4th July 2020, and will focus on anaphylaxis, the most severe type of allergic reaction.

3.   The theme of World Allergy Week 2020 is “Allergy care does not stop with COVID-19”.